I explained to her the reasons why we handle elephant hides, among them the fact that revenues from their sales go to the National Parks to be used for the conservation of wild herds of elephants in Zimbabwe. Once she listened to the background of the re-introduction of elephant hides, she understood my point. Then she told me that the problem of elephant over-population in Zimbabwe seems to be the same as the problem facing kangaroos in Australia.

Outside of Australia, the image of kangaroos is that they are "cute" and "friendly" animals. However, for Australians, kangaroos are far from being friendly. They are "dangerous" and "greedy" animals that are creating serious damage to local agriculture products and farms due to over-population. Any suggestion on "culling'' kangaroos always brings concerns, critics and attacks from outside Australia. Unless they know the truth about the behaviour of these animals, those living outside of Australia will be hard-pressed to believe or accept the rationale for culling kangaroos.

The comparison of kangaroos to elephants may not be appropriate in terms of the degree of so-called "threat" expressed by their respective listings among CITES' Appendices. Nevertheless, I wanted to mention this as an example of an attitude that all of us could easily fall into. We could adopt the same frame of mind as the Australian lady and find ourselves opposing any use of elephants or the culling of kangaroos.

We are always faced with this danger when we form our ideas and perceptions based only on the appearance of the animal or from artificially created image of the animal. Extremists like any of the animal rights groups are quick to take advantage of such stereotypical and emotional images of animals.

We, therefore, consider extremely important to provide proper and correct information about animal us-age to people living outside of range countries. This information should include data on the population of the animals in question, their behaviour, and their relationship to the lives of local people.

When re-introduction of elephant hide became possible at Harare COP10, we discussed with several major manufacturers in Japan how we can give the right message about this product to Japanese consumers. The following key factors were discussed and recognized:

1) Revenue from the sale of hides will directly help National Parks provide for the conservation of elephants in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's elephant over-population is becoming a threat to the lives of local people and therefore requires proper conservation measures by National Parks. Revenues generated from hide sales are required to carry out such necessary measures and proper management scheme

2) Without the support and effort of IWMC, the revenues provided by the re-introduction of trade in elephant hides would not have been possible.

3) There is no illegal hunting taking place in Zimbabwe.

4) Consumers must be made aware of the fact that "buying elephant products supports conservation of the species."